Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Nautical A rope attached to the weather leech of a square sail to hold the leech forward when sailing close-hauled.
- noun A knot forming a loop that does not slip.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Nautical, a rope leading forward and fastened to the leech of a square sail.
- noun In ship-building, a curve representing a vertical section of the bow-end of a ship.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Naut.) A rope fastened near the middle of the leech or perpendicular edge of the square sails, by subordinate ropes, called
bridles , and used to keep the weather edge of the sail tight forward, when the ship is closehauled. - noun the ropes by which the bowline is fastened to the leech of the sail.
- noun See
Illust. under Knot . - noun close-hauled or sailing close to the wind; -- said of a ship.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical a
knot tied so as toproduce aneye orloop in theend of arope ; it will notslip orjam
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a loop knot that neither slips nor jams
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
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Examples
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The bowline is great but only if you need a loop that won't slip.
what is the most imprtiant knot when it comes to survival? 2009
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Just that fast, with one hand, there was a friggin 'bowline in the middle of it.
Knot Reference Wallet Card Keeps Your Knot Knowledge Fresh | Lifehacker Australia 2009
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The bowline is great but only if you need a loop that won't slip.
what is the most imprtiant knot when it comes to survival? 2009
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It was not that rare of a knot, but the bowline was the common preference.
Ship Of Magic Hobb, Robin 1998
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'Do you know whether Mr Oliver would know that a bowline was a safe knot to use?'
The Lighthouse James, P. D. 1988
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The bowline was the last to be secured, and Pilar turned to watch the forward deckhand sprinting across the barges to the stern.
The Best Way to Lose Janet Dailey 1983
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The bowline was the last to be secured, and Pilar turned to watch the forward deckhand sprinting across the barges to the stern.
The Best Way to Lose Janet Dailey 1983
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The bowline was the last to be secured, and Pilar turned to watch the forward deckhand sprinting across the barges to the stern.
The Best Way to Lose Janet Dailey 1983
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The bowline was the last to be secured, and Pilar turned to watch the forward deckhand sprinting across the barges to the stern.
The Best Way to Lose Janet Dailey 1983
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The bowline was the last to be secured, and Pilar turned to watch the forward deckhand sprinting across the barges to the stern.
The Best Way to Lose Janet Dailey 1983
reesetee commented on the word bowline
A loop knot used by boaters to make a secure loop at the end of a rope. It doesn't slip or bind under load and can be untied easily with no load. Two bowlines can be linked together to join two ropes.
January 9, 2008